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I carry half inflated floor less round tail dinghy on coach roof, as I did when I had a 21ft Corribee too.
The addition of wooden floor and transom does make them both wider and bulkier though they may still sit under the boom if you take 'most' but not 'all' of the air out. To inflate lie it across the guardrails forward, this usually gives you standing room as well for inflating, then give it a push!

I have an old wooden boat - we have low freeboard. Our gunwales are level with the average pontoon.

The gunwales are about 6 inches wide. We have about 8 inch high coaming around the cockipt.

We dont have guard wires.

Cabin roof is two level, high from cockpit to mastk then itsteps down to a lower section, then slopes down to the fordeck. Foredeck is about 1.5 meters only.

1) For safety I will be buying a liferaft and keeping it in a cockpit locker. Should save having to have the dingy inflated when at sea. I liked the dingy as a liferaft idea as but the only times that we would want to leave the boat would be because of immement sinking (collision perhaps) or fire, I wouldn't want to be messing around inflating a dingy ..... so I will buy a liferaft before leaving the Solent.

2) I need to test MOB recovery and think about the boarding ladder. Perhaps its time to buy a new one that I trust rather than the old and pottentially rotten one that I found post purchase.

3) I will try rigging a couple of wooden beams over the cockpit and try laying out the dingy ready to inflate. I will try this at the pontoon before trying it for real at anchor!

4) I am going to have a go part hoisting the dingy it up the mast using the main halyard, and pumping from below. You never know, it might work!

Thanks again, all your comments have been very useful. I really do find the forum a great way to learn and it is apriciated.

That's probably right for many modern boats, with some kind of step. I was thinking back to the days when we had a smaller boat and not much freeboard. It was usually quite easy to put a foot on the side of the Avon and the next step on the side deck, usually holding onto a winch or the pushpit.

Hmm I would still disagree, we all do it that way as it is often easier but is it really the safest? I know with beginners or youngsters its straight to the shrouds till they are confident any other way.

As for newer boats with step? Hmm I would say my generalisation has become less true as shroud bases have got smaller and free-boards higher. Our new to us boat my partner can only get up the stern ladder

The tradional thinking - and I know people who've tried this mid - Channell when becalmed & prop was fouled - is that a transom boarding ladder may well come down & punch the daylights ( permanently ! ) out of a swimmer, and my chum - an experienced diver involved in this incident - agrees.

I know from my own experience overboard that a flexible plastic or rope ladder is pretty useless, one's feet just swing under the boat.

Like everyone else I have no magic answer, but I suggest IF anyones' left aboard a rigid ladder - the sort which hooks over the cockpit coaming - and proper pelican hooks to allow detachable guardrails are a major assistance; OK might cost £100, but a lifebuoy costs near that once one has added a decent light, drogue, reflective tape & name graphics...

Not suggesting one or the other, we need both, as history has taught us; also danbuoys, personal EPIRB's etc, but basics first.

I have an old wooden boat - we have low freeboard. Our gunwales are level with the average pontoon.

The gunwales are about 6 inches wide. We have about 8 inch high coaming around the cockipt.

We dont have guard wires.

Cabin roof is two level, high from cockpit to mastk then itsteps down to a lower section, then slopes down to the fordeck. Foredeck is about 1.5 meters only.

That does sound quite tricky- not a lot of space. With the lack of guardrails I would questions whether clogging up the little space there is with a half-inflated dinghy is actually improving safety in any way, but what do I know.
When you say the gunwales are 6" wide, do you mean that you effectively have no side-decks?
Hoisting the dinghy up the mast may well work but only in light winds!
FWIW, I inflate mine on its side on the side-deck, using the pole uphaul to keep it from flaling over, and once finished the uphaul is very handy for hoisting it over the rail and lowering down to the water. This is on a 27ft boat (with side decks!)

With our Limbo 6.6, our Wetline Eco 260 gets stored in the quarter berth, and inflated in the cockpit (if we tow it, it really eats into the boat speed). We have infill boards that allow us to turn the whole cockpit into a double berth so it is easily supported, but when we've left those at home, we have found it easy enough to support the bow section on the tiller (it's a transom mounted rudder so the tiller can only be pushed down so far) and the transom board of the dinghy spans the cockpit to support the stern section. We inflate it as much as possible and then pop it on to it's side to finish, before sliding it over the lifelines. Deflating it is a breeze in comparison. Does help having two sets of hands to man handle it though.

We also have an LVM 'high speed inflator' electric pump, which is spiffing but beware these have to be clipped directly onto the battery, not a switch panel or the large current draw may cause a wiring fire; I saw this discovered the hard way on a boat built by - an electrician !

Wherever it was connected, it shouldn't cause a fire. If the wire can't carry that much current, then the fuse protecting the wire should blow. Are you sure he was an electrician?

I have a socket in my cockpit which powers the searchlight or anchor light; I made it beefier than these things needed with the vague idea of getting an inflator pump at some point. Sadly I didn't actually check what an LVM inflator draws; the socket is rated (and the wiring calculated) at 15 amps so the big beasts are over the limit.

Wherever it was connected, it shouldn't cause a fire. If the wire can't carry that much current, then the fuse protecting the wire should blow. Are you sure he was an electrician?

I have a socket in my cockpit which powers the searchlight or anchor light; I made it beefier than these things needed with the vague idea of getting an inflator pump at some point. Sadly I didn't actually check what an LVM inflator draws; the socket is rated (and the wiring calculated) at 15 amps so the big beasts are over the limit.

Pete

i have had mine 20+ yrs it has yet to smoke, it has one of those continental 12v plug things on it

our runbber flubber is stowed below where it belongs.
this keeps the decks clear for working the ship.
a dingle stowed on a small boat foredeck is a danger possible causing a MOB
ours is inflated in the cockpit with an LVM inflater & launched over the guard wires

+1 on all counts

I have considered inflating it in the forepeak to give some flotation in the event of a catastrophic hull failure.